Monday, September 24, 2007

Rains hit normal life in Kolkata

Normal life in the city continued to be disrupted for the second consecutive day on Monday due to heavy rains.

Durga Puja is approaching and if this rain continues than it will be really bad news for the devotees.

Almost all the low lying areas in the city's southern and northern areas were waterlogged causing serious disruption in vehicular movement. While tram services were withdrawn from many areas, buses waded through deep waters causing inconvenience to commuters. Eastern Railway was running skeleton suburban train services as the tracks were flooded.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation said they were running all the pumping stations to drain out water but heavy rain was causing disruption. Weathermen forecasted more rain due to a depression over Orissa.

Heavy rains had caused collapse of mud houses and dwellings in several villages in Howrah and North and South 24 Parganas district in which five persons were killed on Monday.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

NY Fashion Week shows off feminine dresses

A woman's best dress up for spring fashion success? Spring 2008 styles shown at Wednesday's opening of New York Fashion Week were more loose and feminine than the ladylike, polished fall fashions now in stores.

Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. collection offered both mod frocks and sexy sheaths. BCBG Max Azria showed sheer, flowy dresses, while Abaete turned to '40s-inspired sheaths and halters for the collections shown at Bryant Park.

New York Fashion Week lasts eight days, previewing the spring-summer looks of 60 designers for fashion editors, retail buyers and stylists. Highlights this season will include Ralph Lauren celebrating his 40 years in fashion with a black-tie dinner Saturday night.

Dresses have been a strong trend the past three fashion cycles, but what started with short, boxy shifts in the spring morphed into shirtdresses for fall. It seems next season's shape — at least in early shows — is a loose sheath, one that glides over an hourglass shape without sticking to it.

For men, Nautica showed shorter hemlines while Perry Ellis experimented with different textures, such as bamboo fiber.